


Here there be cuddles... eventually

by fuzzybooks



Category: Sherlock (TV)
Genre: M/M
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2012-11-21
Updated: 2012-11-21
Packaged: 2017-11-19 04:49:32
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,192
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/569286
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/fuzzybooks/pseuds/fuzzybooks
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>A look at Sherlock and John's relationship after the fall, and after-a-hard-day cuddles.</p>
            </blockquote>





	Here there be cuddles... eventually

**Author's Note:**

  * For [prettybirdy979](https://archiveofourown.org/users/prettybirdy979/gifts).



John came home from the clinic to see Sherlock pacing, the kind of pacing that really only happened when he was suffering from withdrawal, of both a case and nicotine.

They had wrapped up a case neatly last night, and Sherlock had actually filled in most of the paperwork with minimal complaint. John really wasn’t sure why and was not completely certain that he actually wanted to know.

He had been surprised that Sherlock had kept himself from texting him all day, but he had thought that his distraction had been because of a case, something from his website maybe.

That was clearly not the case.

Sherlock had been a lot different since he came back and even when he clearly wanted the distraction, he was not quite as eager for a case to solve, there was always that niggling doubt that maybe he had gotten things wrong after all and this would be the day that something would happen to John or Mrs. Hudson, or even Lestrade or heaven forbid, Mycroft.

It had taken them, him and John, a long time to settle back in with each other, all the little differences emphasising how long they had spent apart. They had argued and fought and it had gotten to the point where Mrs. Hudson, bless her soul, had started leaving couples counselling pamphlets around the flat. That had been the straw that broke the camel’s back, John had felt this need to clarify, they were not a couple, they had never been a couple and they were never going to be a couple.

He had then stomped off, in a way that would no doubt make a 5-year old proud, and left to go to the pub.

He didn’t see the look on Sherlock’s face when he did. The betrayal and heartbreak, he had truly thought that John was better than that.

For a while he had actually considered moving out, he had been told that was the custom when couples broke up, but there was the niggling thought that John hadn’t thought they were a couple, at all apparently. Sherlock just couldn’t see why, he had of course realised that there was a possibility that John could move on while he was busy and supposedly dead, but that hadn’t happened. They had gone back to living together and eating together and John had even said during their first meal that that was what partner’s do, they ‘feed you up’. He had been slightly concerned when John showed little inclination to shower Sherlock with the same physical gestures he seemed so fond of, but Sherlock figured he was probably better off.

Eventually Mycroft had set up an appointment, not with any kind of professional it turned out, he merely wanted to lock his brother and John in a room so that they could talk about all of their issues and misunderstandings.

It had taken months for them to really get over that point, though at times it still nagged at Sherlock and it had been added to his list of newfound insecurities. John had been surprised by Sherlock’s views on what constituted a relationship and told him it’s really only official when both parties know about it.

Since then it had been a more common occurrence for the two to touch, small things, fingers brushing against each other when giving or receiving a cup of tea, a hand on the other’s shoulder to ground each other at a particularly gruesome crime scene.

What had truly surprised John though, was how much Sherlock enjoyed hugs, and especially cuddling. At times it was as if he were actually a big overgrown cat, but he was very careful to not initiate the touching and he was very hesitant, or as hesitant as Sherlock ever was, to ask about it. Full on cuddling, more than just them sitting and being close together was still a rather uncommon thing, usually left to rather bad days.

So when John came home on that rainy thursday evening and Sherlock was pacing, full of pent-up energy and the lack of something to focus it on, John removed his jacket and asked him if he’d prefer to cuddle on the sofa or on the bed.

Sherlock stopped and considered.

“Bed, you’ve had a busy day today, full of walking back and forth and listening to whiny patients, the bed is better for your back anyway.” He said and strode upstairs, his dressing gown flowing like a cape behind him. John chuckled and shook his head but went to follow, making sure there was nothing that needed to be put away in the kitchen first, there wasn’t, so he followed Sherlock upstairs.

Sherlock had fluffed the pillows and folded the duvet so it’d be easy to pull it over them, but sometimes John didn’t want the duvet for middle of the day cuddling, so he put them aside until he knew for sure. John liked to surprise him, and keep him on his toes. He turned to the door when John came in and his eyes lit up. He tried not to get ahead of himself, and just wait and take in the sensations as they came, but he could hardly help it when his head went faster than John did.

John got undressed to his boxers and undershirt, cuddling in his work clothes just wasn’t comfortable and comfortable and nice was what they were aiming for. He smiled at Sherlock and led him to the bed.

Even though Sherlock was considerably taller than John, during these cuddle sessions it was John who held Sherlock while he curled in on himself until he resembled a ball of some sort.

John hummed softly and ran his fingers through Sherlock’s hair, feeling the soft texture between his fingers. He rubbed circles on Sherlock’s back until he eventually stretched and nuzzled John’s neck. He could feel the tension seeping out of Sherlock’s body as he relaxed slowly into John’s embrace.

Sherlock breathed in, it was as if he could slow down and take in the moment, instead of the moment, everything else and 31 possible outcomes of the present. John hadn’t replaced his shower gel and smelled like Sherlock. He felt warm and safe, things that Sherlock hadn’t even known he had wanted before.

The repetitive back rubbing finally stopped and he could just soak in the feeling of being held. He had never really had this sense of physical gestures and a lot of the time it was still too much, but it was growing on him and right then he just hoped that John would never stop moving those fingers.

He had looked up other ways to have this same closeness, but without the same possibilities for over stimulation, and had started to make a plan to give John a massage in the near future. It was of course very stress-relieving, John always complained about being tense after a long day at work, as well as the time on their cases.

But not today, today he was going to lie here and just feel and breathe and hold John and be held.

**Author's Note:**

> The cuddling took a while to get to, but here it is! 
> 
> I hope you enjoyed it, thanks for your feedback.


End file.
